"That You, 'Bigfoot?'"

The Elyria, Ohio Chronicle-Telegram reported on some Bigfoot sightings around that area on Thursday, June 6, 1985, in an article titled "That You, 'Bigfoot?' Elyria Twp. man sights a 'big, hairy creature.'"

"ELYRIA TWP - It was Floyd who first warned Randy Herring that something big was afoot.

"Floyd is a German Shepherd tied to a tree in Herring's backyard at 6091 Antrim Road. When Floyd began barking at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, Herring looked out his back door and saw IT.

"'It was big, and had fur all over it,' Herring said.

"Herring, 20, and his friends say they have spent the last two nights in pursuit of the creature, which they say is about six feet tall and covered with reddish brown hair. When they get to close, it growls at them, Herring said.

"'Did you see that Sasquatch movie?' asked Larry Carter, who also reported sighting the beast.

"The reporter said he's missed the film.

"'Well, you've seen pictures of Bigfoot, haven't you? It looked just like that.'

"HERRING SAID several neighbors have also spotted the roaming beast, and he has called the Lorain County Sheriff to investigate. 

"'We told them we saw a Bigfoot, but they didn't believe us,' said Herring, looking slightly disappointed.

"A dispatcher from the Sherrif's [sic] office said a unit investigated a 'report of a prowler' early Wednesday morning, but found nothing.

"They were called again Wednesday night, but deputies again could find nothing.

"'Please believe me,' the dispatcher pleaded. 'There's no hairy monster out there on Antrim Road.'

"Herring is not convinced, however. This morning, he pointed to a fence where he said the creature was crouching. There were strands of reddish fibers clinging to the fence. He believes the fibers are hair from the creature.

"HERRING'S MOTHER, Alice, who lives down the street from her son, said she also believes something big is afoot. Whatever it is, she said, could be coming from the wooded area surrounding the abandoned quarry area located directly adjacent to the neighborhood.

"'Randy's face was as white as a sheet when he came to the house (Wednesday). I know it sounds stupid, but you wouldn't believe anything like this unless it happened to you,' she said.

"Carter was asked if the animal might be a monkey or gorilla.

"'No, no man, it wasn't no gorilla. A gorilla snorts, this thing growled.'"

The above picture is from the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram and is of Randy Herring, the man who reported seeing the Bigfoot. The caption says:

"RANDY HERRING of Antrim Road points to the area of his back yard where he says he first saw a six-foot hairy creature early Wednesday morning. Herring and his friends say they have spent the last two nights searching for the beast."

Was a Bigfoot really roaming around Elyria in 1985? What do you think?

This is just one of many Bigfoot reports discussed in one chapter of my upcoming book on Ohio cryptids….